Portable Kitchen Charcoal Grill and Smoker

The Portable Kitchen Charcoal Grill and Smoker also known as the PK Grill, is an American Made retro-style cast aluminum grill that is capable of high temperature grilling and low and slow smoking.

The heavy-duty cast aluminum construction of the PK Grill reflects heat from all surfaces of the grill and as a result it helps to cook the food more evenly. Also the main section of the PK Grill can easily be detached from the cart for thorough cleaning, tailgating and camping.

The PK Grill took around 15 minutes tops to assemble. To date this is one of the fastest grill setup times of any of the grills I’ve had to assemble thus far. I was one happy camper about that too. 🙂

The PK Grill has hard heavy-duty rubber wheels for easy movement around a deck, patio, or lawn.

The PK Grill has 4 adjustable vents, 2 top and 2 bottom, built into the aluminum casting which help to provide precise temperature control.

The PK Grill has 301 square inches of cooking surface and a lightweight hinged nickel plated steel cooking grate for easy refueling. This grill also has aluminum side and bottom trays for holding utensils and food.

The first thing I did on the PK Grill was open all 4 vents. I then lifted the lid and swung open the hinged cooking grate and placed around 30 Kingsford charcoal briquettes on the charcoal grate.

I then lit the charcoal with my BernzOmatic JT850 Self-Igniting Outdoor Torch and once the coals were hot and white I swung the hinged cooking grate back down and placed on the burgers.

The PK Grill did a fantastic job of cooking the burgers and I was surprised to see very little flare-up as well during the cook. Once the burgers were finished cooking I brought them into the house for my family and I to eat and they were very delicious.

Next up are some Mediterranean Blend cold smoked boneless skinless chicken breasts. I repeated the same start-up steps as mentioned above for this cook.

Again, the PK Grill did a fantastic job. The chicken was perfectly cooked and very tasty.

The final meat I decided on grilling on the PK Grill was some sage cold smoked boneless pork chops. Again I repeated the same start-up steps as mentioned in the burger cook.

The pork chops were very delicious and I had another great cook on the PK Grill.

For the low and slow cook I decided on a 5lb pork butt.

The first thing I did was rub the entire pork butt with some Killer Hogs The BBQ Rub and then wrapped it in plastic wrap and placed it in the fridge overnight.

The next day I opened the PK Grill and all 4 vents and placed 1 half of a Weber charcoal holder in the grill. I then placed in the charcoal holder around 20 pieces of Kingsford charcoal briquettes, a cherry Mojobrick and 1 Weber lighter cube. I also placed a drip pan in the grill directly under the meat.

I then lit the lighter cube and let the grill get up to around 240 degrees.

Once it reached that temperature I placed on the pork butt and adjusted the vents so the top left vent above the meat was all the way open and the one below the meat fully closed. Then I closed the vent above the charcoal and the bottom vent under the charcoal I adjusted to 1/3 of the way open. The grill then settled in at around 250 degrees.

Below is a picture of the pork butt around 2 1/2 hours into the cook. I also added about 10 pieces of charcoal at that time.

I added around the same amount of charcoal to the grill about every 2 1/2 to 3 hours. I also spritzed the butt with apple juice a few times when I added more charcoal.

At about halfway through the cook I rotated the pork butt 180 degrees.

I also want to point out that I didn’t have to make any adjustments to the vents after the initial adjustments were made at the beginning of the cook. The PK Grill stayed locked in at 250 degrees for the full cook. (It was sunny and 65 degrees with no wind during this cook.)

After close to 10 hours of cook time and the butt having reached over 195 degrees internal temperature, it was time to wrap the butt in foil and let it rest for about an hour in a cooler before I pulled it.

I was very impressed with how good the pulled pork tasted. My family really enjoyed it as well. It was some good eats for sure!

Final Thoughts

I will have to say I am extremely impressed with how well the PK Grill worked! My family and I really enjoyed everything that was cooked on this grill as well.

I also like that the PK Grill is easy to use and has a very sturdy and rugged feel to it.

The only thing I could see that some people might not like about this grill is the 301 square inches of cooking surface. This may be too small of a grill for those that tend to cook for larger groups of people. I did find that the PK Grill had more than enough cooking space for my family and I! (PK Grill does sell an additional grate called the “Cook More Grid”, which attaches to the hinged grate to give you nearly double the cooking area in your PK Grill.)

Last but not least is the fact that the PK Grill is constructed of cast aluminum, so it won’t rust and it’s the type of grill that can be handed down for generations.

If you’re in the market for a new grill/smoker, I highly recommend looking into buying the PK Grill! Plus, like I mentioned above, the PK grill would be a great investment that you can hand down to your family for many years to come.

Comments

Thanks Michelle! I really appreciate it! The PK Grill is a super easy and fun grill to use. Plus I love the fact that I will be able to pass it down to our daughter when she gets older. It’s a great grill/smoker and well worth the price too! Thanks so much for leaving a comment Michelle!

Looks like a great little BBQ. Everyone should have a portable grill like this. I have a Weber Char Q and it has cooked lots of delicious food. When these small BBQ’s are set up properly they can cook anything. Good review – Cheers

I have been using the PK Grill for smoking and it has turned out to be a very capable and durable backyard appliance. I can hose down the item with water, depend on it to be always look like new and not have to deal or worry about buying another smoker to replace the rusted out one in 4 years.

I bought a PK FOR $45.00 in 1967 when I was 27 years old. It stayed outside in the weather year round and NEVER had any signs of rust. I used it at least a couple of times a week for grilling, but mostly smoking on weekends, for 45 years until it was stolen. By my count, it cost me one dollar a year to own it. What a bargain! I usually cooked for medium sized groups by “stacking” the meat and rotating it several times and feeding everyone at once. I was known far and wide (at least among my friends) as having the best grill/smoker available. Not to mention the food was always SPECTACULAR! Oh! Did mention? I bought another one right after the theft. I’m age 72 now so I have been training my grandson to use it. I’m sure it will serve him well until he is my age. And, it has always been and still is MADE IN AMERICA!

Thanks for leaving a comment Raymond! Sorry to hear that your first PK Grill got stolen. Glad to hear you still have the one you replaced it with and that you plan on passing it down to your grandson to use. It’s an awesome grill/smoker for sure and best of all it’s Made in America! Thanks again Raymond!

Just ordered a PK grill, and looking forward to grilling with my son. I have been looking at various grills and smokers, but I liked the fact that this one does both. Plus, it sounds really durable and low maintenance. And yes, I do like buying a product that is made in the USA!

Just had to comment on my PK grille ,about 24 years ago I found mine on the side of the road as someone was trashing it ! Granted it needed some TLC as I had to fabricate new vent shutters and also a new grate as the old one was rusted out ! Just lately had to fabricate a cart for the grille to sit in as the aluminum legs finally gave out and truthfully it looks great and similar to the new set up ! It is an amazing grille to cook on and as far as mine goes was made back in the early 1960s ! so its got to be at least 50 years + old and still cooking up some delicious meals.Anyone in doubt about buying one of these ,don’t be as they will last a lifetime and more !!! Mine will be inherited by my son ! Thanks PK for building such a great product !!!

Thanks for the great review and I appreciate the comments of others as well… I am debating getting the pk grill or the weber deluxe performer – is the grate flush with the bottom part of the grill – it looks like it is – does that lend itself to say hamburgers going off the side of the grill went flipping them? It seems like you will need a small shovel to remove the ash. I saw one video on the pk grill where they purchased a messed charcoal bin to hold the charcoal – which allowed easy removal of ash. Seems like the pk grill makes slow cook/smoking a little easier too.

The cooking grate is flush with the grill. I’ve never had any issues with food falling off the sides when grilling on it.

I use my Weber charcoal holders to hold all my charcoal. That way when I go to clean up it holds the bigger pieces of charcoal that might be left over. Then I use a small hand-held broom/brush to sweep the cooled off ash out at one of the bottom vents into a trash bag or a disposable aluminum drip pan.

The PK Grill is great for smoking and grilling. Plus it’s a grill that you can pass down for generations too! Thanks again for leaving a comment Ed!

Thanks for a great review. I just purchased a PK and can’t wait to use it. I noticed that you use the Weber charcoal holders (I believe they are Weber 7403 holders?). I have seen dimensions listed for these as 12″x 12″ x 12″ and 14″x 5″x 3″… I believe that they are the latter since they fit your PK with the cooking grate down. I wanted to double-check before I order a set of the holders. Any advice would be appreciated.

So far, we love this grill! We live near salt water, so we needed something made of a material that wont rust. Our smaller Webber (which we also love) is only a couple years old and has some rust around the edges. The cart is also really nice, although I think it could have a way to catch the ash built in. We just use an aluminum tray on the bottom shelf. I’ve found it easy to clean–just hose it out or use a shop vac if there is a lot of ash.

We purchased his grill over 50 years ago and it still looks and works like new. we still have the “Guide to cooking with Portable Kitchen” which cost at that time 30 cents and has excellent instructions for menus and smoking. I never us a chemical starter, only use an electric or charcoal starter to keep the grilled items flavorful. We purchased the grill with a green color coating and it still has the color remaining. If you really enjoy delicious grilling purchase a PK grill.